Tag Archives: San Francisco

This week has been kinda painful. Let’s just say I hate moving. My mom was in town from Pennsylvania to help with the move. She accompanied me Weds night to the El Rey to see Nightlands and Sondre Lerche THEN she came with me to On the Rox to rock out to Semi Precious Weapons’ last Empire gig…completely with late night dining at The Rainbow Room. We didn’t get home ‘til the wee hours. I just have to say that my mom totally rocks and I am quite lucky to have her.

Because of the move, my last week was a bit light on shows. Hopefully this week I’ll be able to turn it all around. This may be slightly problematic as my car currently doesn’t function properly…but The Silent Comedy is starting a West Coast tour with Saint Motel, hitting up The Casbah (San Diego) on Tuesday, Detroit Bar (Costa Mesa) Weds, LACMA (LA) Thursday, and Velvet Jones (Santa Barbara) on Saturday so…we shall just have to make something work, now won’t we!

To Keep in Mind:
July 14th: Parade of Lights at The Viper Room
July 15th: Curtis Peoples at The Hotel Cafe
July 19th and 21st: Alkaline Trio at The Troubadour
July 21st: Missy Higgins at The Santa Monica Pier
July 22nd: Langhorne Slim at The Echo
July 22nd: Indians CD release at The Viper Room
July 26th: The Indigo Girls at The Troubadour
July 28th: Ben Sollee at Bootleg Theater
July 28th: A Perfect Circle at Gibson Auditorium
August 11th: Toy and Lifehouse at Ventura County Fair
August 12-14th: Outside Lands in San Francisco
August 18th and 25th: The Veronicas at The Viper Room
August 18th: TDIF at The Hotel Cafe
August 19th: Buckcherry at The Roxy
August 18-20th: SSMF
August 27-28th: Sunset Junction
September 3rd: FYF
September 22-24: Hotel Carolina (South Carolina)
September 22nd: Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights at The Viper Room

Share Me:

This weekend was supposed to be SO much fun, but I ended up spending most of it sleeping. I guess I can only run away from sickness for so long. Fortunately, before the fever descended, I was able to spend an amazing night Weds at Empire, the weekly party Semi Precious Weapons throws at On the Rox (bar above The Roxy). So many of my friends were out, celebrating a few birthdays. SPW put on a stripped down miniset, including a slower version of their new tune “Free Booze” that I might just enjoy more than the original. Finally, we all danced the night away to tunes provided by my favorite DJ (DJ High Voltage). Such a memorable night! There are only two more Empires left (this Weds and next) so if you haven’t been, be sure to get on the list and go!

As for the rest of the week, here’s my wish list. At the moment, I can’t really fathom going out, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to. So many good shows this week. You’ll have to enjoy them for me until I’m back on my feet.

Thursday: War Tapes and Dead Sara at Bootleg Theater (9:45, 10:45)
ALSO: Austin Hartley Leonard, Chris Pierce, and The Canyons at The Hotel Cafe (9,10,11)
ALSO: Allen Stone and Nikka Costa at The Roxy (8pm)
ALSO: Lovers Drugs at The Prospector in Long Beach (9pm)
ALSO: The Kooks at The Troubadour (9:45)
ALSO: Okkervil River at The Wiltern (7pm)
ALSO: The Mountain Goats at The El Rey (8pm)

To Keep in Mind:
June 29th: Brooke Fraser at The Music Box
July 4th: Hotel Café Presents Ford on the 4th of July featuring Truth & Salvage Co., Cary Brothers, The Rescues, Anya Marina, etc.
July 14th: Parade of Lights at The Viper Room
July 15th: Curtis Peoples at The Hotel Cafe
July 19th and 21st: Alkaline Trio at The Troubadour
July 22nd: Langhorne Slim at The Echo
July 26th: The Indigo Girls at The Troubadour
July 28th: A Perfect Circle at Gibson Auditorium
August 12-14th: Outside Lands in San Francisco
August 18th: The Veronicas at The Viper Room
August 19th: Buckcherry at The Roxy
August 18-20th: SSMF
September 22-24: Hotel Carolina (South Carolina)

Share Me:

The list may look a little long this week and that’s because I’m going to be internet-less next weekend and well…I don’t want that to leave everyone concertless. Of course, the reason I’ll be without connection to the world is because we’re going to that magical place called Bonnaroo and I refuse to spend my energies on finding power and WiFi…I’m not even bringing my computer (*gasp*). I’m sure we’ll be updating everyone on our journey via twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/_localmusicnat). At least until I have to choose between charging my phone and running to the next set (you can guess what will win).

I’ll working on a “most anticipated acts of Bonnaroo” post, so keep your eyes out. In the meantime, for those of you not venturing to Tennessee, LA still has a lot to offer this week in terms of live music. Enjoy!

Monday: Band of Skulls at Bootleg Theater (11pm)
ALSO: The Californian at The Satellite (9pm)
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)

Tuesday: Death Cab for Cutie and The Lonely Forest at The El Rey (8pm)
ALSO: Band of Skulls at Bootleg Theater (11pm)
ALSO: Fat City Reprise at Rhino Records Pop Up Store in Santa Monica (8pm) http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=201749359870269
ALSO: Indians at La Cita (10pm)

June 15th: Augustana at The House of Blues Sunset
June 17th: Nico Vega at The House of Blues Anaheim
June 24th: Rooney at The El Rey
June 25th: The Silent Comedy at The Roxy
June 29th: Brooke Fraser at The Music Box
July 14th: Parade of Lights at The Viper Room
July 19th and 21st: Alkaline Trio at The Troubadour
July 22nd: Langhorne Slim at The Echo
July 26th: The Indigo Girls at The Troubadour
July 28th: A Perfect Circle at Gibson Auditorium
August 12-14th: Outside Lands in San Francisco
August 18th: The Veronicas at The Viper Room
August 18-20th: SSMF
September 22-24: Hotel Carolina (South Carolina)

~ Kristen

Share Me:

Still singing and dancing to music from last night’s adventure at The Troubadour. Ben Rector and Matt Wertz were both fantastic, bringing me back to my days of Tyler Hilton, Gavin Degraw, and that ilk. I spent a lot of time in 2004-5 this week between last night and Weds night’s venture to The Hotel Cafe to see Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump busting beats with his new solo tunes. The highlight of last week, however, was Biffy Clyro down at The Belly Up. I cannot be effusive enough in the written word to describe the experience, so I won’t even try.

Let’s just say this week has a lot to live up to. If I could pick just one show it would be Thursday night at Molly Malone’s. Zane Carney (of my very first LA band love, Carney) is in town from NYC where he, as well as the rest of the band, have been very busy with the new Spiderman musical. Zane’s playing three sets; the first with a jazz band, the second with his sister Paris Carney, and the third with Stephen Hovsepian as a duo, Great Work. I am excited about the music (Zane is a master of the guitar and always a pleasure to watch), but I’m also excited about catching up with my Carney family, the first group of people I met when I moved out to LA, the majority of whom I have not seen since Carney departed.

But that’s not all that’s going on this week. It’ll be a busy one:

Monday: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)
ALSO: Lauryn Hill at Club Nokia (7pm)

Weds: Ellie Goulding at The Music Box (7pm)
ALSO: Amie Miriello and Ruby Friedman Orchestra at The Hotel Cafe (7,9)

Thursday: An evening with Zane Carney at Molly Malone’s (8: Zane Carney, John Daversa, and Sam Gendel play jazz; 9: Zane and Paris Carney; 10: The Zane and Stephan Show)
ALSO: Deep Dark Robot at The Roxy (10pm)
ALSO: The Shakers at The Viper Room (11pm)
ALSO: The Pretty Reckless FREE at Hard Rock Cafe (9pm)
ALSO: Kurt Vile and The Violators at The Echo (10pm)
ALSO: Brian Wright at The Foundry on Melrose (8:30)

Friday: Purple Melon at The Roxy (9pm)
ALSO: Hugo at The Viper Room (9pm)
ALSO: Lakes at The Hotel Cafe (midnight)
ALSO: Matthew Jordan at Pi (part of a songwriters in the round session, starts at 9pm)
ALSO: Eastern Conference Champions at The Echo (10pm)

Saturday: I do have a friend who will be dressing up like a crab and singing “Under The Sea” at The Troubadour…that might be interesting…

Sunday: Justin Hopkins Songwriter in the Round Series and Hugo at Saint Rocke (8,10)
ALSO: Viza at The El Rey (7:30)

To Keep in Mind:
April 25th: Airborne Toxic Event at The Satellite
April 25th: The Head & The Heart at The Troubadour
April 27th: Andy Clockwise at The Troubadour
April 29th: Joe Purdy with The Milk Carton Kids at Saint Rocke
April 30th: Joe Purdy with The Milk Carton Kids at The Troubadour
May 2nd: Xavier Rudd at The El Rey
May 4th: The Pipettes at The Satellite
May 7th: The Silent Comedy at The Roxy
May 9th: KT Tunstall at The El Rey
May 14th: The Other Side of Morning CD Release
May 15th: Eisley at The Troubadour
May 20th: Curtis Peoples at The Hotel Cafe
May 21st: Saint Motel at The Roxy
May 27th: The Script at Club Nokia
May 27th-29th: Sasquatch Music Festival (Washington)
June 2nd: Manchester Orchestra at The Music Box
June 7th: Death Cab for Cutie and The Lonely Forest at The El Rey
June 9-12: Bonnaroo (TN)
June 13th: Florence and The Machine at The Greek Theater
June 15th: Augustana at The House of Blues Sunset
June 29th: Brooke Fraser at The Music Box
July 26th: The Indigo Girls at The Troubadour
July 28th: A Perfect Circle at Gibson Auditorium
August 12-14th: Outside Lands in San Francisco
August 18-20th: SSMF
September 22-24: Hotel Carolina (South Carolina)

~ Kristen

Share Me:

It’s Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale! Looks like they’ve finally made it official. This makes me very happy as I LOVE this duo. The formation of The Milk Carton Kids was just announced so don’t forget to like on facebook, follow on twitter, and check out their website.

They have a couple songs up for FREE download on their site. So, what are you waiting for? Just press “download”!

They are on tour this summer, opening for Joe Purdy. That means, The Troubadour on April 30th for all my fellow Los Angelenos. For everyone else, check out their website or just look at the dates and places below:

4/22 Austin, TX: The Parish

4/23 Dallas, TX : The Loft

4/25 Santa Fe, NM: Corazon

4/27 Phoenix, AZ : Rhythm Room

4/28 Solano Beach, CA : Bellyup Tavern

4/30 Los Angeles, CA : Troubadour

5/3 San Francisco, CA : The Independent

5/5 Portland, OR : Doug Fir

5/7 Vancouver, BC : The Rio Theater

5/9 Boise, ID : Neurolux

5/10 Salt Lake City, UT : State Room

5/12 Denver, CO : Bluebird Theater

5/14 Lawrence, KS : Bottleneck

5/15 Des Moines, IA : Vaudeville Mews

5/16 Minneapolis, MN : Varsity Theater

5/17 Milwakee, WI : Turner Hall

5/18 Chicago, IL : Lincoln Hall

5/19 St Louis, MO : Off Broadway

6/9 Birmingham, AL : WorkPlay

6/10 Atlanta, GA : The Loft

6/11 Asheville, NC : Grey Eagle

6/12 Carborro, NC : Cat’s Cradle

6/14 Annapolis, MD : Ram’s Head

6/15 Philadelphia, PA : World Café Live

6/16 New York City, NY : Highline Ballroom

6/17 Fairfield, CT : Stage One

6/20 Northampton, MA : Iron Horse

6/21 Allston, MA : Brighton Music Hall

6/22 Fall River, MA : Narrows Center for the Arts

6/23 Burlington, VT : Higher Ground

6/25 Montreal, QC : Petit Campus

6/26 Toronto, ONT : Horseshoe Tavern

6/27 Pittsburgh, PA : Rex Theater

6/28 Cleveland, OH : Beachland Ballroom

6/30 Syracuse, NY : Westcott Theater

~ Kristen

p.s. Joey and Kenneth playing “Girls, Gather Round” live at the Vail Film Festival:

Share Me:

I recieved the following via facebook event invite. Needless to say, I am incredibly excited about the return of The Kin to Los Angeles. These Austrialian-born, NYC-based brothers are one of my favorite live acts. I am especially excited about Monday night’s soungwriters in the round at Room 5 which also features another fave duo, Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale. As I write this, I am giddy in anticipation of the greatness that will surely unfold that night.

If you get the chance, I’d highly recommend you come to at least one of the events deatiled in the message below:

LA Cohorts,

Were heading west for a week of music in LA. We will be driving in from San Francisco where we have a week of making videos for the new album of groovy cover songs we have made with the Rondo Brothers, called ‘The Kin: Rondo Sessions’.

We then get to spend a week in LA with you before we head to a summer music festival in France. Please come and be with us on Sunday August 1st for our main show of the week at the venu…e ZANZIBAR…details for all shows below.

Share Me:

Do you ever associate a particular song or band with a certain time in your life so much so that whenever you hear that song or see that band you are transported back to those days when that music meant so much to you? Well that is how I feel about the band Carbon Leaf who had a strong presence in my college days. There is one verse in particular from their song “What About Everything” that really struck a chord with that particular time and place in my life. It includes the following lines:

“…Before time takes each year, like a knife cuts it clear
It’s school, then work and then life that just sharpens the blade
I think about time for fun
I think about time for play
Then I think about being done, with no resume…”

I first discovered Carbon Leaf in 2004. Their CD, Indian Summer, was just released when I stumbled upon it during one of my Borders listening sessions. I was immediately struck by the soothing vocals and the general positive/happy vibe I picked up from the songs. I have been following Carbon Leaf ever since. The band is from Virginia and it took a couple of years for us to be in the same city at the same time. I finally saw them in 2006 at the TLA in Philadelphia. They were on Tour with Matt Nathanson and their CD Love Loss Hope Repeat had just come out. It was a packed house and I remember struggling to get a good view, but also being impressed that the energy from the stage could make its way all the way to where I was, piercing my soul as all my favorite songs were being performed on the stage.

Last night at The Troubadour was only the second time I’ve seen Carbon Leaf live. Being in love with a local band is amazing if you’re in the same town, but I don’t make it to Virginia all that often and I kept missing the guys when they would go on tour. However, the little family of Carbon Leaf lovers that gathered at The Troubadour for the band’s 2 hour set made me feel like I hadn’t missed a beat. I was certainly not alone in my adoration as the band’s unique brand of Celtic/bluegrass rock (Wikipedia’s categorization) seemed to transport the entire room to a different place and time where the one commonality was music that we were all, at that moment, experiencing together.

The band played songs spanning their entire catalog including many off Indian Summer despite the fact that the record was released 6 years ago. They also played some great tunes from other records including a couple songs from Curious George 2 (to which Carbon Leaf supplied the soundtrack), and one from their forthcoming album, How the West Was One.

This upcoming album is fairly special as it marks the band’s break from their record label and return to the DIY world of music-making. They were especially proud to announce that despite the fact that the mixing of the new album had just been completed, the songs were available that night via download cards. It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who is bothered by a record label’s decision to hold material for release long after it’s completed. This move also means that the band will have a lot more music coming out over the next year or so. They say that How the West Was One is really going to be volume 1 of 3-4…all songs that the band has written over the years while they have been east of the Mississippi.

I have yet to download the new tunes, but I wanted to get something out about the brilliance of this band before tonight’s (Thurs July 8th) show at The Belly Up in Solana Beach (right outside of San Diego). I know many people at last night’s show plan to drive down and I wish I could join them. If you’re in the San Diego area, I’d highly recommend heading over the Belly Up (a fantastic venue) and checking out Carbon Leaf.